Keith Patterson joined coach Todd Graham's staff as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in February. The upside: Patterson has a deep history with Graham. They were college teammates at East Central University. They coached together at both the high school and college levels. Put simply: One understands how the other thinks.

The downside: Patterson is ASU's third linebackers coach in three years, following Ron West and Paul Randolph. Naturally, spring practice was a learning process for everyone.

"Not only am I evaluating the skill set of each one of those guys, but they're trying to adapt to what my expectations are,'' Patterson said. "Sometimes, even though it's the same system or the same defensive scheme, people have different methods and different ways of communicating that, so I think it's a process, not just for me evaluating those players, but they're also learning."

Patterson coaches ASU's weak-side and strong-side linebackers, as well as the spur, a hybrid position that lines up on the edge. (Randolph coaches the Devil-backers, a position that was covered in last week's defensive line preview.) In the spring, Patterson had six returnees. Only sophomore Salamo Fiso was a full-time starter last season; sophomore Viliami Moeakiola had one start at spur linebacker.

In the spring, freshman D.J. Calhoun – who enrolled in school early – played with the first team at weak-side linebacker. Fiso lined up on the strong side, and Moeakiola was at spur. Redshirt freshman Alani Latu, junior Antonio Longino and senior Marcus Washington (moved over from tight end) contributed on the second team. Sophomore Carlos Mendoza watched from the sideline because of a foot injury.

As far as evaluation goes, Patterson said it was a good start, but he's excited to learn more once the newcomers arrive in the fall.

"The spring basically shows everyone, 'Hey, here's where you are heading into fall camp,' '' he said. "Then once you get into camp, it starts all over."

ASU linebacker Salamo Fiso warms up during Spring practice at the Kajikawa practice fields at ASU in Tempe on Thursday, April 3, 2014. (Photo: David Wallace/azcentral sports)

Linebacker Antonio Longino (32) leads a group in running drills at ASU's spring football practice on the Bill Kajikawa Football Practice Field in Tempe on Thursday, April 10, 2014. (Photo: Charlie Leight/azcentral sports)